1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a room air conditioner and more particularly to a room air conditioner having an evaporator facing a room side of the air conditioner, a condenser on an outdoor side of the air conditioner and a dividing wall between the two, all enclosed within outer cabinetry of the air conditioner.
Room air conditioners generally have an air inlet and an air outlet at a front side of the air conditioner which faces the interior of the room when the air conditioner is positioned in a window opening or in a through-the-wall sleeve. Usually warm air is drawn in through a portion of the front panel to pass through an evaporator coil to be cooled and then is directed by a blower or fan to an outlet or outlets, also in the front panel. The outlet may be a single opening positioned either along a top or bottom edge of the front panel or may be a single opening positioned at one lateral side or the other of the front panel. Occasionally the air from the blower is directed into a manifold type box or plenum chamber and from that chamber it is allowed to exit through the front of the air conditioner through more than one opening. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,149, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, air is drawn into the air conditioner unit through a lower front grill portion and is redelivered to the room through a grill portion which extends along the top edge of the air conditioner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,788, air is drawn in from a front lower grill opening, through a filter and the air is pressurized by a fan mounted in a manifold chamber or plenum from which air is permitted to exit through two spaced grills. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,094, air is drawn in through a front grill, is pressurized by a fan and exits through a grill 30 located at a bottom edge of the front panel. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,596, air is drawn in through a central portion of the front panel, is pressurized by a fan and is directed into a plenum chamber to exit from two spaced lateral air outlets through the front panel of the air conditioner.
In each of these arrangements, the evaporator coil extends only across a portion of the lateral width and/or vertical height of the front panel, thus requiring the evaporator to be doubled over (multi-layer) so as to provide a sufficient surface area for the heat exchange between the refrigerant within the evaporator and the air stream flowing past the evaporator to occur. As a result, excess fan power is required to overcome the pressure drop created across multiple layer evaporators.
In most room air conditioners, the condenser coil is positioned along a rear wall of the air conditioner unit and ambient air is caused to flow across the condenser by means of a fan. In order to provide a sufficient amount of surface area for heat exchange between the ambient air and the condenser, the condenser must be relatively thick. As a result, the condenser, like the multiple layer evaporator discussed above, consumes substantial amounts of space in the air conditioner unit and requires extra fan power to overcome a substantial air flow pressure drop. Typically there are air openings formed in side walls of an outer cabinet for the air conditioner to provide for the air stream which flows across the condenser.
Typically the use of a manifold plenum chamber or similar structure requires an extra space in the air conditioner thereby reducing the compactness of the air conditioner and adding to the bulkiness of the air conditioner. Also, such a structure requires extra parts and weight, thus increasing the costs and complexity of manufacturing.